The good news is that our eight pounds of worms arrived in the mail today! The students went absolutely gonzo over the worms. We put the worms into each of the worm bins, so the worms should be eating our food waste away in the next few days. I'll add more food tomorrow, and hopefully by Monday we'll be able to see some worm action.
It is a little odd to get worms in the mail, though!
We had a busy day with our field trip today. Before we left we shared facts we learned about Coral Reefs and talked about symbiosis. Symbiosis is the interdependence of animals and other animals or plants. In coral reefs, coral and algae have a symbiotic relationship. The coral depends on the algae for food. No algae means hungry coral, hungry coral then dies.
The bus driver complimented our class and the students were amazing as we picnicked inside at lunchtime. We wrote about our adventure and drew pictures of our interpretations of a coral reef.
We then did our worm bin activities and suddenly it was time for specials. Time flies!
Have a wonderful afternoon.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
No worms today
and we are sad. I'm sad, Ms. Clifford is sad. The whole class is sad. I'm hoping they come tomorrow. If not, I'll have to call the worm people and find out where our worms are. The bins were on their second day with food waste and do not smell. Covering the food scraps with newspapers really seems to be working. Be sure to come experience the worms during open house next week!
Beyond watching for the worm delivery, we did more work with antonyms today and read a story about Wilma Rudolph. Students were asked whether the pictures were important to the story? If the pictures are (or aren't), why is that? Especially with nonfiction texts, the pictures really help tell the story If you don't know much about Wilma Rudolph, your child! Have him or her tell you about her.
Lori Clifford came today and did a lesson on the damaging power of words. It's really important to understand how much words can hurt someone, even if it's not on purpose. We have worked hard at becoming empathetic peers.
In math we collected pocket data, calculated the total number of pockets worn by our class and made our own representations of the data. It was a big deal to take 22 data points and turn it into a reasonable graphical representation.
Students worked with partners becoming experts on one section of information about Coral Reefs. Tomorrow we will share our info in the morning before the leave and will talk about symbiosis.
Between the worms and the field trip, the kiddos can't WAIT for tomorrow. Be sure to send a sack lunch.
It really is my pleasure to share this energy with your child. I am blessed.
Beyond watching for the worm delivery, we did more work with antonyms today and read a story about Wilma Rudolph. Students were asked whether the pictures were important to the story? If the pictures are (or aren't), why is that? Especially with nonfiction texts, the pictures really help tell the story If you don't know much about Wilma Rudolph, your child! Have him or her tell you about her.
Lori Clifford came today and did a lesson on the damaging power of words. It's really important to understand how much words can hurt someone, even if it's not on purpose. We have worked hard at becoming empathetic peers.
In math we collected pocket data, calculated the total number of pockets worn by our class and made our own representations of the data. It was a big deal to take 22 data points and turn it into a reasonable graphical representation.
Students worked with partners becoming experts on one section of information about Coral Reefs. Tomorrow we will share our info in the morning before the leave and will talk about symbiosis.
Between the worms and the field trip, the kiddos can't WAIT for tomorrow. Be sure to send a sack lunch.
It really is my pleasure to share this energy with your child. I am blessed.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
We are ready for worms
Tomorrow we should begin our vermicomposting adventure. The worm bins are seeded with food waste, damp newspaper and shredded coconut husks. The students are amped and the worms were supposed to have been mailed yesterday by Priority Mail. I'm sure you'll get all the info you need from your student!
This is the last week for most students that spelling will come home on the pink sheets. After this, students will be working on individual vexing words and students will test each other on Fridays. For some students, spelling will continue as it has.
Today was a busy day (they are all, aren't they?). We added food to one of the worm bins, finished our people posters (all but three or four students are DONE!), returned to working on our All About Books (we read with partners trying to make sure we had facts not feelings in our books) and we participated in a survey in math. I showed three different ways to display the information gathered in a survey and tomorrow the students will have their own chance.
As we are headed to OMSI on Thursday and studying Australia, we have begun talking about the Great Barrier Reef. Today the students had a chance to hold some coral ad we talked about coral reefs being a live object. This was something I didn't fully understand until a few years ago. We talked about the things that we can do keep coral reefs healthy, as well.
Ask your student about the zones of the ocean. Today we talked about the fish that live in each zone. The fish in the abyssal zone had little bodies and BIG mouths!
Have a great Wednesday!
This is the last week for most students that spelling will come home on the pink sheets. After this, students will be working on individual vexing words and students will test each other on Fridays. For some students, spelling will continue as it has.
Today was a busy day (they are all, aren't they?). We added food to one of the worm bins, finished our people posters (all but three or four students are DONE!), returned to working on our All About Books (we read with partners trying to make sure we had facts not feelings in our books) and we participated in a survey in math. I showed three different ways to display the information gathered in a survey and tomorrow the students will have their own chance.
As we are headed to OMSI on Thursday and studying Australia, we have begun talking about the Great Barrier Reef. Today the students had a chance to hold some coral ad we talked about coral reefs being a live object. This was something I didn't fully understand until a few years ago. We talked about the things that we can do keep coral reefs healthy, as well.
Ask your student about the zones of the ocean. Today we talked about the fish that live in each zone. The fish in the abyssal zone had little bodies and BIG mouths!
Have a great Wednesday!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Worms, Worms and more Worms
Monday was a great day. The sun is shining, everyone is in a wonderful mood and folks are motivated to do nice work!
We began talking about antonyms today. Talk with your child about antonyms. It is SO much fun to find sets of words that are opposite. I could not believe how many the kids came up with! They covered nearly two pages of easel paper with unique pairs of antonyms.
Work continued on the people posters. We have about half the class with complete posters and we will start presenting them on Wednesday. Students will be assessed on the accuracy of their work, whether they figured out the BIG reason their person was important and the quality of their presentation. It's a big year end project for us.
After library we did Weekend News, and it's fun to catch up with what your families did over the time off. We started a new unit in math, but it continues the data collection theme. Look for the unit letter on Tuesday. We also began talking about the Great Barrier Reef today. Ask your child about the zones of the ocean.
Worm News: I wrote a grant to begin a vermicomposting program at Bethany. We have received four worm bins and our worms will arrive this week. Vermicomposting uses red worms to break down organic materials into materials that can be used for compost. It's a great way for us to reduce the amount of waste we put into the trash cycle and to study the life cycle of a critter. The students are so EXCITED. We put together one of the bins today to prepare it for the worms. The money came from METRO, and our bins and worms are coming from Happy D Ranch. For more info on vermicomposting (it doesn't smell and can even be done in a house, condo or garage) you can look here or here.
We began talking about antonyms today. Talk with your child about antonyms. It is SO much fun to find sets of words that are opposite. I could not believe how many the kids came up with! They covered nearly two pages of easel paper with unique pairs of antonyms.
Work continued on the people posters. We have about half the class with complete posters and we will start presenting them on Wednesday. Students will be assessed on the accuracy of their work, whether they figured out the BIG reason their person was important and the quality of their presentation. It's a big year end project for us.
After library we did Weekend News, and it's fun to catch up with what your families did over the time off. We started a new unit in math, but it continues the data collection theme. Look for the unit letter on Tuesday. We also began talking about the Great Barrier Reef today. Ask your child about the zones of the ocean.
Worm News: I wrote a grant to begin a vermicomposting program at Bethany. We have received four worm bins and our worms will arrive this week. Vermicomposting uses red worms to break down organic materials into materials that can be used for compost. It's a great way for us to reduce the amount of waste we put into the trash cycle and to study the life cycle of a critter. The students are so EXCITED. We put together one of the bins today to prepare it for the worms. The money came from METRO, and our bins and worms are coming from Happy D Ranch. For more info on vermicomposting (it doesn't smell and can even be done in a house, condo or garage) you can look here or here.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Wait, it's Friday?
Well, apparently, I completely missed Thursday! We have had two very busy days!
The students are working hard on their biography posters! Yesterday our room had an eery silence while students were working away. Several kiddos have finished their posters. Mr. Stewart walked through yesterday and gave us a hefty compliment on the quality of our work.
Two Hall of Fame spellers this week: Asher and Natasha. The words because and friends were very difficult.
We've been doubling up on the work on our posters and that has consumed most of our writing time the past two days. I can't wait for the posters to be finished.
We took a math assessment today on data collection and sorting. The students have done a great job figuring out ways to sort information. We're still working on different ways to categorize different types of information, but we'll have more time to figure that out in the next unit.
Our Junior Achievement volunteer came today. He's from Symantec and the children were excited to see him. He has an easygoing manner and I'm confident that JA will be a success.
Enjoy your weekend. I think more yard work is calling my name.
The students are working hard on their biography posters! Yesterday our room had an eery silence while students were working away. Several kiddos have finished their posters. Mr. Stewart walked through yesterday and gave us a hefty compliment on the quality of our work.
Two Hall of Fame spellers this week: Asher and Natasha. The words because and friends were very difficult.
We've been doubling up on the work on our posters and that has consumed most of our writing time the past two days. I can't wait for the posters to be finished.
We took a math assessment today on data collection and sorting. The students have done a great job figuring out ways to sort information. We're still working on different ways to categorize different types of information, but we'll have more time to figure that out in the next unit.
Our Junior Achievement volunteer came today. He's from Symantec and the children were excited to see him. He has an easygoing manner and I'm confident that JA will be a success.
Enjoy your weekend. I think more yard work is calling my name.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
and just like that, Wednesday was gone
I was out on Tuesday, so no blog entry. The sub reported the students were wonderful and said she'd come back any time. It's always nice to hear a glowing report of your students (it's not always that way, i will admit....)
Today was a refreshing day. The students are confident in their abilities and were taking on tasks without batting an eye. We played another round of Synonym Concentration today, and students had to tell me a pair of syllables for their ticket to lunch. My favorite was "Clicker and Remote." Sure enough, that's a set of syllables.
Tomorrow people posters begin. I will talk with the few students who didn't want to do a poster tomorrow to work out what they'd like to do. Most students sketched a rough draft today, and we are excited. I'd like to invite our 5th grade buddies to hear our fact presentations.
Kiddos had another chance today to finish up their partner stories. I really am amazed by what they're turning out. Cooperative talk is wonderful to hear. Tomorrow will be back at our "All About" books.
We learned about Venn diagrams in math and applied our knowledge to more sorting based on Yektti attributes. Tomorrow the students will select two attributes and collect data from our class for their own Venn diagram. We worked on a health assessment this afternoon that involved proper hand washing technique.
We've had lots of kids with colds in our class. If your child has a fever, she must stay home for a full day after the fever has broken. Remember to wash your hands often. It's always sad when students are missing.
Today was a refreshing day. The students are confident in their abilities and were taking on tasks without batting an eye. We played another round of Synonym Concentration today, and students had to tell me a pair of syllables for their ticket to lunch. My favorite was "Clicker and Remote." Sure enough, that's a set of syllables.
Tomorrow people posters begin. I will talk with the few students who didn't want to do a poster tomorrow to work out what they'd like to do. Most students sketched a rough draft today, and we are excited. I'd like to invite our 5th grade buddies to hear our fact presentations.
Kiddos had another chance today to finish up their partner stories. I really am amazed by what they're turning out. Cooperative talk is wonderful to hear. Tomorrow will be back at our "All About" books.
We learned about Venn diagrams in math and applied our knowledge to more sorting based on Yektti attributes. Tomorrow the students will select two attributes and collect data from our class for their own Venn diagram. We worked on a health assessment this afternoon that involved proper hand washing technique.
We've had lots of kids with colds in our class. If your child has a fever, she must stay home for a full day after the fever has broken. Remember to wash your hands often. It's always sad when students are missing.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
A day late and....
Yesterday was a busy day! The day zoomed by and before I knew it the bell was ringing to send your children home to you.
We began putting our biography facts into sentences yesterday so we can organize them for our people posters. I am impressed by what the students were able to glean from their research. We have a group of children who can think deeply about topics.
Synonyms are this week's focus for our spelling lessons. Synonyms are pairs of words that mean the same thing: they are interchangeable in writing and speaking. You can easily play a synonym game with your child: "If I say x, I could also say y." Synonyms are fun and a great way to show your cleverness. (And kids think it's great!)
We worked on a super secret project for the volunteer luncheon yesterday. If you've done any volunteer work for Bethany (classroom, carnival, etc.) come join us for lunch at 11:05 on Thursday.
Students were introduced to Yektti's yesterday. They are fictional characters with multiple attributes used by our math program to help students understand concepts of data sorting. They are fun and it's great to hear the students identifying them by their attributes, such as "ringed eyes" or "rhombus body."
Our study of germs continued, and we talked briefly about how quickly germs can grow and spread in your body. Our goal is to keep those pesky germs OUT. You'll find a homework page this week that asks you and your child to brainstorm ways to keep germs under control. It's truly fascinating to me that thousands of individual virus cells can fit on the head of a pin. Wow.
We began putting our biography facts into sentences yesterday so we can organize them for our people posters. I am impressed by what the students were able to glean from their research. We have a group of children who can think deeply about topics.
Synonyms are this week's focus for our spelling lessons. Synonyms are pairs of words that mean the same thing: they are interchangeable in writing and speaking. You can easily play a synonym game with your child: "If I say x, I could also say y." Synonyms are fun and a great way to show your cleverness. (And kids think it's great!)
We worked on a super secret project for the volunteer luncheon yesterday. If you've done any volunteer work for Bethany (classroom, carnival, etc.) come join us for lunch at 11:05 on Thursday.
Students were introduced to Yektti's yesterday. They are fictional characters with multiple attributes used by our math program to help students understand concepts of data sorting. They are fun and it's great to hear the students identifying them by their attributes, such as "ringed eyes" or "rhombus body."
Our study of germs continued, and we talked briefly about how quickly germs can grow and spread in your body. Our goal is to keep those pesky germs OUT. You'll find a homework page this week that asks you and your child to brainstorm ways to keep germs under control. It's truly fascinating to me that thousands of individual virus cells can fit on the head of a pin. Wow.
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